• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.56-64
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• 2013

After the law has been enacted for the prevention and recovery of mining damage in 2005, efforts of remediation have been started to recover heavy metal contaminated soils in agricultural land near mining sites. As part of an effort, the upper part of cultivation layer has been treated through covering up with clean soil, but the heavy metal contamination could be still spreaded to the surrounding areas because heavy metals may be remained in the lower part of cultivation layers. In this study, the most frequently occurring arsenic (As) contamination was selected to study in agricultural land nearby an abandoned metal mining site. We applied separation technologies considering the differences in the physical characteristics of soil particles (particle size, density, magnetic properties, hydrophobicity, etc.). Based on physical and chemical properties of arsenic (As) containing particles in agricultural lands nearby mining sites, we applied sieve separation, specific gravity separation, magnetic separation, and flotation separation to remove arsenic (As)-containing particles in the contaminated soil. Results of this study show that the removal efficiency of arsenic (As) were higher in the order of the magnetic separation, flotation separation, specific gravity separation and sieve separation.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.46-55
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• 2013

The main objective was to evaluate the efficiencies of different separation techniques, such as gravity separation, magnetic separation, and aerial separation. Zinc and cadmium removal efficiencies by gravity separation and magnetic separation were 28.3~29.3% and 19.1%, respectively, and were higher than the efficiency obtained by aerial separation. Results showed that the combination of gravity separation and magnetic separation in series which was to maximize the removal efficiencies gave removal efficiency of 21.5~38.7% for zinc and 22.1~23.4% for cadmium. The mass of soil meeting the regulation standards for zinc and cadmium after retrieval from the combined separation process accounted for approximately 80% of the treated soil that would be reusable without the pre-treatment procedure as the neutralization process using in the soil washing method. Physical separation techniques utilizing heavy metal properties are the alternative method to remediate heavy-metal contaminated soils in environmental and economic aspects.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.10-13
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• 2016

In this study, we developed a new volume reduction technique for cesium contaminated soil by magnetic separation. Cs in soil is mainly adsorbed on clay which is the smallest particle constituent in the soil, especially on paramagnetic 2:1 type clay minerals which strongly adsorb and fix Cs. Thus selective separation of 2:1 type clay with a superconducting magnet could enable to reduce the volume of Cs contaminated soil. The 2:1 type clay particles exist in various particle sizes in the soil, which leads that magnetic force and Cs adsorption quantity depend on their particle size. Accordingly, we examined magnetic separation conditions for efficient separation of 2:1 type clay considering their particle size distribution. First, the separation rate of 2:1 type clay for each particle size was calculated by particle trajectory simulation, because magnetic separation rate largely depends on the objective size. According to the calculation, 73 and 89 % of 2:1 type clay could be separated at 2 and 7 T, respectively. Moreover we calculated dose reduction rate on the basis of the result of particle trajectory simulation. It was indicated that 17 and 51 % of dose reduction would be possible at 2 and 7 T, respectively. The difference of dose reduction rate at 2 T and 7 T was found to be separated a fine particle. It was shown that magnetic separation considering particle size distribution would contribute to the volume reduction of contaminated soil.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.311-320
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• 2014

A magnetic separation study was conducted for a soil sampled from a landfill site where steel slag had been dumped for a long time. Heavy metal concentrating effect was evaluated by analyzing heavy metal content of magnetically separated soil and passed through soil. The effect was compared between soil after soil-washing process and original landfill soil and the effect was also tested between wet condition-magnetic separation and dry condition-magnetic separation. Separated ratio was relatively higher in non-soil washed sample. The water content has no significant effect on the separation rate. The concentrating effect of Fe, Pb, Cu, and Cd were 3.2, 2.1, 12.1, 2.5, 1.5 and 17.4, 7.0, 15.7, 9.6, 7.0 respectively for non-soil washed sample and soil washed sample. We can expect a bigger volume reduction effect from soil-washed samples. The volume reduction effect was obtained from the separation in dry condition. However, when the separation ratio is too high the volume reduction effect decreases. The magnetic separation leads to a volume reduction and concentration of heavy metals into a portion of soil in case of paramagnetic particles contained soil.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2019

Batch experiments for the soil washing coupled with the magnetic separation process were performed to remediate the soil contaminated with metal and oil wastes. The soil was seriously contaminated by Zn and TPH (total petroleum hydrocarbon), of which concentrations were 1743.3 mg/kg and 3558.9 mg/kg, respectively, and initial concentrations of Zn, Pb, Cu, and TPH were higher than the 2nd SPWL (soil pollution warning limit: remediation goal). The soil washing with acidic solution was performed to remove heavy metals from the soil, but Pb and Zn concentration of the soil maintained higher than the 2nd SWPL even after the soil washing with acidic solution. The 2nd soil washing was repeated to increase the Pb and Zn removal efficiency and the Zn and Pb removal efficiencies additionally increased by only 8 % and 5 %, respectively, by the 2nd soil washing (> 2nd SPWL). The small particle separation from the soil was conducted to decrease the initial concentration of heavy metals and to increase the washing effectiveness before the soil washing and 4.1 % of the soil were separated as small particles (< 0.075 mm in diameter). The small particle separation lowered down Zn and Pb concentrations of soil to 1256.3 mg/kg (27.9 % decrease) and 325.8 mg/kg (56.3 % decrease). However, the Zn concentration of soil without small particles still was higher than the 2nd SPWL even after the soil washing, suggesting that the additional process is necessary to lower Zn concentration to below the 2nd SPWL after the treatment process. As an alternative process, the magnetic separation process was performed for the soil and 16.4 % of soil mass were removed, because the soil contamination was originated from unreasonable dumping of metal wastes. The Zn and Pb concentrations of soil were lowered down to 637.2 mg/kg (63.4 % decrease) and 139.6 mg/kg (81.5 % decrease) by the magnetic separation, which were much higher than the removal efficiency of the soil washing and the particle separation. The 1st soil washing after the magnetic separation lowered concentration of both TPH and heavy metals to below 2nd SPWL, suggesting that the soil washing conjugated with the magnetic separation can be applied for the heavy metal and TPH contaminated soil including high content of metal wastes.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.9-19
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• 2021

This study evaluated the feasibility of combined use of physical separation and soil washing to remediate heavy metals (Pb and Cu) contaminated soil in a military shooting range. The soils were classified into two types based on the level of heavy metal concentrations: a higher contaminated soil (HCS) with Pb and Cu concentrations of 6,243 mg/kg and 407 mg/kg, respectively, and a lower contaminated soil (LCS) with their concentrations of 1,658 mg/kg and 232 mg/kg. Pb level in both soils exceeded the regulatory limit (700 mg/kg), and its concentration generally increased with decreasing soil particle size. However, in some cases, Pb concentrations increased with increasing soil particle size, presumably due to the presence of residues of bullets in the soil matrix. As a pretreatment step, a shaking table was used for physical separation of soil to remove bullet residues while fractionating the contaminated soils into different sizes. The most effective separation and fractionation were achieved at vibration velocity of 296 rpm/min, the table slope of 7.0°, and the separating water flow rate of 23 L/min. The efficiency of ensuing soil washing process for LCS was maximized by using 0.5% HCl with the soil:washing solution mixing ratio of 1:3 for 1 hr treatment. On the contrary, HCS was most effectively remediated by using 1.0% HCl with the same soil:solution mixing ratio for 3 hr. This work demonstrated that the combined use of physical separation and soil washing could be a viable option to remediate soils highly contaminated with heavy metals.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.41-46
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• 2015

Three types of experiments, based on the physical properties of oily sludge landfilled soil, were conducted to recover total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) from the soil. These experiments included gravity separation, solvent extraction using water, and air floatation. The oil portion was not easily separated from the wet (raw) soil because water molecules aggregate the soil particles, despite the fact that the soil was sandy. However, the drying and grinding processes destroyed the aggregates, causing the TPH recovery to increase to approximately 60% when air floatation was used. The drying process decreased the specific gravity of the soil sample, thereby enhancing the overall recovery of TPH from the soil. Although thermal desorption and/or incineration are common choices for heavily dumped sites, physical separation can recover the oil portion instead of simply removing it.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2003

An oscillating digger mechanism was designed, constructed. and tested. The mechanism is consisted of a six-bar linkage, one four-bar linkage was fer the digger blade and the other one fur variable soil-crop separation. Experimental variables were amplitude(3, 6, 9 mm). frequency(11.2, 14.9. 17.0 Hz), and forward speed of tractor(0.91, 1.13, 1.56 km/h). Each combination of these variables was replicated three times to measure the draft and torque for power requirement evaluation. and the broken-up soil height on the soil separation sieve mechanism. Four parameters λ(the ratio of vibration speed to forward velocity), p(the ratio of vibration acceleration to forward velocity), K(the ratio of vibration acceleration to gravitational acceleration), and T(the product of λ and K) were induced from three experimental variables: amplitude, frequency, and tractor speed. And the power requirement and soil separation ability were analyzed by regression. Though λ and K were known to be the representative parameters. T was the most moderate one to explain draft. torque. and soil separation in this study. It was estimated that the T equal to or greater than 2.4 was the minimum recommended value. Figure 18 would be useful fir the selection of amplitude. frequency, or operating tractor speed once any two variables are known.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.13-17
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• 2023

Magnetic separation technology for small paramagnetic particles has been desired for the volume reduction of contaminated soil from the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident and for the separation of scale and crud from nuclear power plants. However, the magnetic separation for paramagnetic particles requires a superconducting high gradient magnetic separation system applied, hence expanding the bore diameter of the magnets is necessary for mass processing and the initial and running costs would be enormous. The use of high magnetic fields makes safe onsite operation difficult, and there is an industrial need to increase the magnetic separation efficiency for paramagnetic particles in as low a magnetic field as possible. Therefore, we have been developing a magnetic separation system combined with a selection tube, which can separate small paramagnetic particles in a low magnetic field. In the previous technique we developed, a certain range of particle size was classified, and the classified particles were captured by magnetic separation. In this new approach, the fluid control method has been improved in order to the selectively classify particles of various diameters by using a multi-stage selection tube. The soil classification using a multi-stage selection tube was studied by calculation and experiment, and good results were obtained. In this paper, we report the effectiveness of the multi-stage selection tube was examined.

• Journal of the Korean Professional Engineers Association
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.24-29
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• 2008

Recently, the serious problems have been occurred due to the contaminated sites with heavy metals are increasing. There are several remediation technologies of the metal contaminated soil such as physical separation, washing with water or acid, biologically, electrically. Pytoremediation, ultrasonic etc. Among these technologies the physical separation can be put in a good option to solve the metal contaminated soil economically and environmental friendly. Because this technology has been already commercially certificated in the mineral processing field for a long time.